As the first full Fast and Furious movie that I have seen, this one is exactly what I expected. One liners, explosions, and a lot of cars round out this eighth installment in the franchise. The culture surrounding the franchise remains the same with large-muscled characters and rap music playing in the background. Although the film is shallow at times, it is still an enjoyable adventure/action flick that keeps the audience engaged for a runtime over two hours.
With seven preceding films in the franchise, it must have been hard to create somewhat realistic action sequences. From what I've heard, as the franchise chugs forward, the effects and events become more and more insane. Clearly, it is getting hard to stick with just cars for action. The franchise has expanded into more weaponry and turned into a cheesier Bond-esque genre. At times hundreds of cars are controlled by one hacker, but there are also torpedoes to keep the film from becoming too focused on car racing. Honestly, I love the integration of weaponry with the cars because the cars now create a safe place for the characters wherever they go.
While I do praise the film for a lot of it's action, I will warn you that this is in no way a serious action film. Do not walk into the theater expecting to see Skyfall or Saving Private Ryan. Rather, expect a fun flick similar to Escape Plan or Get Hard. The story is simple as heck with a villain trying to terrorize the world and turn a good guy into a bad guy. As a centerpiece for the film Vin Diesel is just a simple character and without his team this film would be really bad. Luckily Dwayne Johnson (Moana) and Jason Statham (The Transporter) return with decent dialogue here and there. Unfortunately, this is one of my least favorite roles that Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, Hancock) has ever played. Her script makes her a weak villain who is capable of hacking into anything, but cannot even make a joke funny. Without seeing the other films I assume that this one is not the worst, but I also hope it is not the best of the franchise...
The Bottom Line: The Fate of the Furious is a fun-to-watch action film, so long as you do not get too caught up in the physics of the real world.
Score: 6/10
With seven preceding films in the franchise, it must have been hard to create somewhat realistic action sequences. From what I've heard, as the franchise chugs forward, the effects and events become more and more insane. Clearly, it is getting hard to stick with just cars for action. The franchise has expanded into more weaponry and turned into a cheesier Bond-esque genre. At times hundreds of cars are controlled by one hacker, but there are also torpedoes to keep the film from becoming too focused on car racing. Honestly, I love the integration of weaponry with the cars because the cars now create a safe place for the characters wherever they go.
While I do praise the film for a lot of it's action, I will warn you that this is in no way a serious action film. Do not walk into the theater expecting to see Skyfall or Saving Private Ryan. Rather, expect a fun flick similar to Escape Plan or Get Hard. The story is simple as heck with a villain trying to terrorize the world and turn a good guy into a bad guy. As a centerpiece for the film Vin Diesel is just a simple character and without his team this film would be really bad. Luckily Dwayne Johnson (Moana) and Jason Statham (The Transporter) return with decent dialogue here and there. Unfortunately, this is one of my least favorite roles that Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, Hancock) has ever played. Her script makes her a weak villain who is capable of hacking into anything, but cannot even make a joke funny. Without seeing the other films I assume that this one is not the worst, but I also hope it is not the best of the franchise...
The Bottom Line: The Fate of the Furious is a fun-to-watch action film, so long as you do not get too caught up in the physics of the real world.
Score: 6/10
Image credit: By Tokumeigakarinoaoshima - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58045638
